Agenda item

Purpose: To consider the draft revision of the Statement of Licensing Policy on Gambling 2015, prior to the statutory consultation.

Ms. Emilia Matheou presented a report highlighting that under the Gambling Act 2005 the council was required to review and consult upon its Statement of Licensing Policy on Gambling every three years from the date of adoption.

Ms. Matheou highlighted amendments to the policy made following guidance issued by the Gambling Commission’s Licensing Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) and the Local Government Association in early 2015. These amendments were shown as tracked changes in the existing document attached as Appendix One.

Ms. Matheou indicated that one of the changes was in relation to requirements for a ‘Local Risk Assessment’. This placed a responsibility on licensees to assess the local risks to the licensing objectives posed by the provision of gambling facilities at each of their premises, to have policies, procedures and control measures to mitigate those risks and to submit the assessment when an application for a licence or variation was required.

Ms. Matheou informed Members that the other change related to a Local Area Profile - an assessment of local risks and concerns recommended to be produced by local authorities in the GLA Special Bulletin April 2005. The production of the profile was not mandatory and as the local authority had not done one, a paragraph was added to the Licensing Policy on Gambling to allow it to be considered in the future.

Mr Leahy informed the Committee that the document was the same policy but with added mandatory changes or changes recommended by the guidance received in 2015. The existing Gambling Policy was approved in 2012 and had stood the test of time. The original policy had been considered by a QC as ‘fit for purpose’ at the time and the new one just had the additional amendments.

Councillor Webb enquired if the revised policy gave the ability to restrict the amount of gambling establishments on the same street. Ms. Matheou responded that if the policy was not in place the local authority was not able to enforce the requirements and referred to the example of Westminster Council that employed a company to assess and use a complex method to identify where vulnerable pockets of users were located to inform such decisions.

Councillor Webb required clarification on what the triggers were for assessing if the number of gambling establishments on the same street should be restricted. Ms. Matheou stated that the trigger to assess the requirements to restrict the number of establishments was a representation received on an application.

Mr Leahy added that since the introduction of the policy in 2012 there had been no complaints received about existing gambling in an area.

Councillor Webb noted that on the draft Licensing Policy on Gambling there were other changes marked by red numberings. Ms. Matheou informed that the number of each section had to change as a result of inserting the two new sections into the document.

RESOLVED that Members considered and approved the revised version of the Statement of Licensing Policy on Gambling to be used for statutory consultation.